It's not only about tin and pepper

It's not only about tin and pepper

By Hyginus Hardoyo

Indonesia has declared the two tiny but resource-rich islands
of Bangka and Belitung as its 31st province. The government,
which officially launched the new province on Feb. 9, 2001, has
assigned a provisional governor to set up a provincial
infrastructure within six months to be followed by the election
of a permanent governor.

Bangka-Belitung, previously a part of the South Sumatra
province, has a population of some one million and is known for
its tin and pepper production.

PANGKAL PINANG, Bangka-Belitung (JP): When Bangka-Belitung was
inaugurated as Indonesia's 31st province early this year, a
question frequently raised was whether this new province would be
able to survive and be self-sustaining.

The question comes forth because Bangka-Belitung depends
heavily on tin as its source of revenue, the reserves of which
are being steadily depleted due to excessive exploitation.

However, the locals here are confident and optimistic on the
future of the newly inaugurated province because of the abundant
natural resources it is endowed with.

With regard to development, several representatives of the
provincial administration and business circle, contacted after
the inauguration, said the new province would be able to catch up
with the other established provinces of the country.

Bangka-Belitung, they said, was well-known not only as a major
producer of tin, but also pepper and other commodities such as
kaolin, oil palm, rubber, coconut, swallow's nests and fish.
Aside from tin, most of the other resources of the new province
have not been fully developed or tapped.

Despite the forecast that the existing tin resources will run
out in 15 to 20 years, it is not improbable that a new big
reserve will be found as indicated by soil analysis.

According to data at the regional administration, publicly
listed tin mining company PT Timah Tbk spends approximately Rp
120 billion (US$10.9 million) per month on employees' salaries,
mining activities and procurement. The company plays a dominant
role in the province's economic activities.

Located in the calm South China Sea between the two huge
islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, Bangka-Belitung also has a lot
of beautiful white sandy beaches -- an untapped wealth, vital for
the development of the tourist industry. Its capital, Pangkal
Pinang, is accessible within 45 minutes by plane or nine hours by
jetfoil from Jakarta.

Bangka and Belitung, which cover over 11,500 square kilometers
and 4,500 square kilometers, respectively. They had a combined
population of over one million with an annual per capita income
of Rp 4.12 million in Bangka and Rp 3.7 million in Belitung in
2000, according to the local administration. Presently one third
of the population in the province is of Chinese descent.

The bill for the creation of the Bangka-Belitung province was
passed by the House of Representatives in November last year,
ahead of the launching of the country's ambitious regional
autonomy program at the beginning of this year.

The struggle by the local people to establish an independent
province actually started in 1956, when Bangka Belitung was
called Bangka-Belitung residency. Their efforts almost bore fruit
in the early 1970s when the proposal for an independent province
entered the third level of deliberation at the House of
Representatives. However, it ended in vain because of the
unfavorable political situation at the time.

The enactment of Regulation No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy
during the reformation era helped speed up the process of
separating Bangka-Belitung from South Sumatra.

"The most promising thing here is that as a new province, we
now have a regional income of nearly Rp 40 billion (about $3.6
million) per annum, far higher than Bengkulu and several other
provinces," Bangka-Belitung provisional governor Amur Muchasim
told The Jakarta Post in Pangkal Pinang in early April.

"If the province is managed properly, its potential can be
improved further. The opportunities are there. It depends on how
the Bangka-Belitung people themselves make use of them," he said.

"My job is to build a foundation for the establishment of an
effective regional administration," said Amur, who was assigned
by Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi
Soedirdja to prepare for the election of a permanent governor
within six months, that would be before July.

Amur explained that during his two-month tenure as an acting
governor, he had set up a committee for selecting members of the
local legislative council, which will later be in charge of
electing a permanent governor.

"Out of the 45 members of the legislative council, 40 will be
representatives of political parties and five from the Indonesian
Military," he said.

He admitted that one of the biggest problems he was facing now
was that many of the candidates for council member, were not
Bangka-Belitung, but from Palembang, the capital of South
Sumatra.

"This will cause resentment among the local people," he said,
adding that he would urge executives of the regional offices of
political parties to help find a way to prevent a crisis.

Recruitment of civil servants to work at the new provincial
administration has lately sparked debate on whether the province
should employ indigenous people or those from other islands. The
debate stemmed from an offer by South Sumatra Governor Rosihan
Risyad to assign up to 400 employees of the fourth and fifth
echelon from his administration who are facing early retirement
due to streamlining in bureaucracy in line with the
implementation of the regional autonomy, to Bangka-Belitung.

Achmad Dasuki, a Bangka-born member of the South Sumatra
legislative council, said the offer was good as it was better to
recruit experienced employees as it would help speed up
development in the new province. "Hiring new recruits will only
burden the local administration as it has to spend money on
testing and training them," Dasuki was quoted by the Bangka Pos
daily as saying.

An advisor to the Bangka-Belitung acting governor, Achmad
Rusdi, said whatever the suggestion, when recruiting new
personnel, his administration would give priority to civil
servants from Bangka and Belitung regencies, Pangkal Pinang
mayoralty and the Bangka and Belitung indigenous people who are
working in other provinces.

In line with the preparation for the establishment of a
permanent regional administration, Amur disclosed that he had
earmarked four major areas as priority for development, namely
the tourist industry, the manufacturing industry (including
kaolin and tin processing), plantations (especially pepper) and
fishery.

He said tourism was chosen because the province had attractive
rock-studded beaches in Parai and Tanjung Pesona in Sungailiat,
and white sandy beaches in Pasir Padi near Pangkal Pinang.

The beaches are regarded as more beautiful that even Bali's
famous Kuta beach.

Amur explained that he was still in the process of lobbying
the central government to make Pangkal Pinang an international
gateway to help attract foreign tourists.

"We are currently negotiating with Singapore's Silk Air and
Malaysia's Pelangi Air on introducing flight services from
Singapore and Johor Bahru, respectively, to Pangkal Pinang," Amur
said.

In principle the government has given its consent to the
negotiations, and a memorandum of understanding for the
cooperation is being prepared, he said.

He said the local administration was also planning to extend
the length of Depati Amir Airport's runway in Pangkal Pinang from
the current 1,800 meters to 2,000 meters to enable it to
accommodate bigger aircraft.

Four other foreign and domestic investors have expressed
interest in investing in the airport expansion project and in
various other ventures, including the development of Matras Beach
Resort, oil palm plantations, export-oriented sheep breeding,
power generation, city street lighting and seaport development.

The investors will conduct field surveys before negotiating
further with representatives of the regional administration,
regency and mayoralty.

The aggressive campaign launched by the Bangka-Belitung
Investment and Promotion Board (BIPB), which was established by
young Bangka-Belitung executives, is largely responsible for the
current interest in the province being shown by investors.

The establishment of BIPB aimed mainly at inviting both
domestic and foreign investors to help develop and utilize the
abundant natural resources in Bangka and Belitung.

Beni Sindhunata, one of BIPB's director, told the Post that
the establishment of the Bangka-Belitung province did not
constitute the end of a struggle, but the beginning of an
endeavor to create a just and prosperous community.

"We are fully aware that investors will only come if they are
given accurate data on the various investment possibilities here.
Providing such data is our job," Beni said.